Shaq is pitching MMA passage

In an interview with the Times Union on Tuesday, retired NBA basketball star Shaquille O’Neal said he is calling lawmakers in Albany to support passage of legalizing mixed martial arts.

He has been making calls from Orlando, Fla., he said, but isn’t working for anybody. He said he dreams of being able to go to the new Brooklyn home of the Nets to see world class MMA. “I’ve been a big supporter of the MMA since it first came out,” he said. “I been training for 20 years, when I started training MMA is when I started winning championships. It helped me get to a new level.”

He said he has called Assembly members Crystal Peoples-Stokes, of Buffalo, Keith Wright, of Manhattan, and Carl Heastie, of the Bronx, so far, all of whom support the bill sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle. He had not gotten through to the lawmakers yet, but has left messages.

“When you think of New York and the Empire State we’re always at the top of everything. We should host at least 50 events a year in New York; the best fighter in the world is from New York . . The people of New York should be in the forefront.”

He said he called Stokes because he heard she is taking heat from those opposing the Morelle bill and he wanted to lend some supportive words. Some of Peoples-Stokes’ women colleagues in the Democratic majority are extremely hostile toward the events.

“I’m doing this as an individual,” said O’Neal, who retired after an injured-plagued final season with the Boston Celtics in 2011 (he said the Celtic playoff story would have had a different outcome if he was healthy).

The 7-foot, 325-pound television NBA analyst, frequently seen in the audiences of MMA events when he isn’t doing sponsorships, said: “I’m from New Jersey . . . I own properties in New York; have residences in New York. I’m a New Jersey native. I have aunts and uncles in New York, all over. My whole family is from New York and New Jersey, period. I’m up in New York at least twice a month. I have business partners (there) . . . meet with Wall Street people.”